Cleaning device with kite tail swab

ABSTRACT

A cleaning device, especially an instrument cleaning device, having a thin, flexible threadlike object with a first straight end and a second looped end and a swab member attached to the looped end.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of, andpriority to U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 14/196,433filed Mar. 4, 2014, currently pending, which application claims thebenefit of, and priority to, provisional patent application having Ser.No. 61/773,284, filed Mar. 6, 2013, which applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a cleaning device, especiallyan instrument cleaning device, having a kite tail like swab. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a cleaning device whichincludes a rod member or filament like member having at least one endthat terminates in a loop and a swab member attached to the loop.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Medical devices and medical instruments are becoming more sophisticatedand much smaller thereby enabling surgeons to reach remote parts of thebody without the need for open surgery which exposes a much larger partof the body to the risk of outside infections. In addition, using theseinstruments results in lowering the complications of surgery andspeeding up the recovery time for patients. However, these devices andinstruments must be cleaned and decontaminated after use so that theycan be reused in future procedures. This cleaning and decontaminationprocess is often called reprocessing.

Reprocessing medical instruments and devices can become difficult withthe newest and latest devices which often include miniscule channels andcrevices that can be impossible to see and troublesome to access. Inaddition, the instruments and devices sometimes fail to come withadequate cleaning instructions or include cleaning instructions that areconfusing and onerous to follow. As a result, many of these instrumentsand devices are reused without proper cleaning which can lead to severerisks for patients.

A University of Michigan study analyzed the cleanliness of 350 suctiontips used to vacuum up fluids during surgery and found that 95 percentof them still contained debris after routine reprocessing. In anotherstudy, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conducted an investigationinto seven individuals who contracted surgical-site bacterial infectionsafter having knee or shoulder arthroscopy in a Houston hospital. The CDCfound that the arthroscopic shavers that were used for the procedurescontained residual bits of body tissue. Endoscopes and cannulas are evenmore worrisome to infectious disease experts in that millions ofsurgical procedures are performed each year using these instruments.

Surgical instruments like endoscopes and cannulas are typically cleanedwith twisted metal wire brushes and pipe cleaning type devices. However,these types of cleaning devices can cause major problems includingincomplete cleaning, damage to medical devices and instruments resultingfrom scratching, and metal fibers and other types of cleaning fibersleft inside the instruments after cleaning. In addition, these types ofcleaning devices are high in cost to produce and therefore need to bereused, thereby carrying the attendant risks of cross contamination.

Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, low cost cleaning devicewhich overcomes these obstacles. There is also a particular need for asimple, low cost device specifically designed for cleaning medicalinstruments and medical devices such as endoscopes and cannulas withoutthe risk of damaging the instruments and further risking infection topatients.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a cleaning device that includes arod or filament like member having at least one end that terminates in aloop and a swab member attached to the loop. In one exemplary embodimentthe rod member may comprise a polymer and, in particular, it maycomprise an organic polymer thermoplastic such as, for example,polyether ether ketone so that the rod member results in a thin,flexible, threadlike object. In addition, the swab member may comprise afoam material and/or a microfiber material.

In another exemplary embodiment the rod member may have a first end thatcomprises a straight end and a second end that comprises a looped end.In yet another exemplary embodiment, the looped end may have a smallerdiameter than the straight end. In still another embodiment, the loopedend of the rod member may be longer in length than the straight end ofthe rod member and the swab member may be shorter in length than thelooped end. In yet another exemplary embodiment of the cleaning device,the looped end of the rod member may be equal to or greater in lengththan the straight end of the rod member and the swab member may belonger in length than the looped end of the rod member.

With respect to the swab member of the cleaning device, the swab membermay comprise a first end attached to the loop or looped end of the rodmember and a second end comprising a tail. The tail may comprise two ormore separate members. In addition, in one exemplary embodiment, theswab member may comprise one or more materials that are braided inrelation to one another. In another exemplary embodiment, the swabmember may comprise one or more materials that are twisted in relationto one another. For example, the swab member may comprise a foammaterial and a microfiber material that are braided or twisted inrelation to one another.

In the exemplary embodiment of the cleaning device which includes a rodmember having a first straight end and a second looped end and a swabmember attached to the second looped end of the rod member, the outercircumference of the straight end may be larger than the outercircumference of the second looped end. In addition, the first straightend of the rod member may comprise two thicknesses of the second loopedend of the rod member where the two thicknesses that comprise thestraight end are fused or bonded together or co-extruded such that thestraight and looped ends of the rod member are continuous with oneanother. Also, in a further aspect of the invention, the swab member maybe attached to the second looped end of the rod member by having aportion of the second looped end of the rod member traversing through anend of the swab member such that the swab member is capable of beingrotated about and through the second looped end of the rod member. Thisattachment would also enable the swab member to slide along the lengthof the second looped end of the rod member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe appended drawing figures, wherein like numerals demote likeelements, and

FIG. 1 is top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of the cleaningdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the exemplary embodiment of thecleaning device of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodimentof the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodimentof the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 4-4;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another exemplary embodiment of thecleaning device of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the exemplary embodiment of thecleaning device of the present invention shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodimentof the cleaning device shown in FIG. 5 taken along line 7-7; and

FIG. 8 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodimentof the cleaning device shown in FIG. 5 taken along line 8-8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The cleaning device of the present invention generally provides a rod orfilament like member having at least one end that terminates in a loopand a swab member attached to the loop. The swab member may have firstand second ends where the first end is attached to the loop and thesecond end comprises a tail such as the tail of a kite where the tailcan be of any length. The swab member may comprise one or more materialsthat can be braided or twisted with the tail end of the swab membercomprising the unbraided or untwisted ends of the material or materialsthat comprise the swab member. In addition, the swab member may comprisea foam material and/or a microfiber material.

The rod member of the cleaning device may be comprised of a polymerhaving first and second ends where the first end is a straight end andthe second end is a looped end. In addition, the rod member may compriseone continuous polymer rod with the looped end of the rod membercomprising one thickness or diameter and the straight end of the rodmember comprising two thicknesses or two diameters of the looped end ofthe rod. The two thicknesses or diameters of the polymer rod that formthe straight end of the rod member may be fused or bonded together,laminated together, or co-extruded.

FIG. 1 shows a top plan view of one exemplary embodiment of the cleaningdevice of the present invention. Cleaning device 10 includes a rodmember 12 having a first end 14 and a second end 16 where second end 16comprises a looped end. Cleaning device 10 also includes a swab member18 having a first end 20 and a second end 22 where first end 20 isattached to the second looped end 16 of rod member 12 and second end 22comprises a tail 24 which can be like the tail of a kite where the tailcan be of any length. Swab member 18 may comprise one or more materialsthat may comprise one or more fibers that can be braided or twisted withthe tail end 24 of the swab member 18 comprising the unbraided and/oruntwisted ends of the material(s) and/or fiber(s) that comprise the swabmember 18. In addition, the swab member 18 may comprise a foam materialand/or a microfiber material.

A side elevational view of the exemplary embodiment of the cleaningdevice 10 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. Rod member 12 of cleaningdevice 10 may be comprised of a polymer that may be flexible which isshown by the curved areas 29 of the second looped end 16 of rod member12. Second looped end 16 of rod member 12 is larger than first end 14 ofrod member 12 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The polymercomprising rod member 12 may be an organic polymer thermoplastic which,in one exemplary embodiment, may be a polyether ether ketone. The rodmember is preferably a thin, flexible, threadlike object.

FIG. 3 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodimentof the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3 and FIG. 4is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodiment of thecleaning device shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 4-4. As shown in FIGS.3 and 4, the diameter of looped end 16 of rod member 12 is smaller thanthe diameter of straight end 14 of rod member 12. Likewise, the outercircumference of looped end 16 of rod member 12 is smaller than theouter circumference of straight end 14 of rod member 12. Further asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, straight end 14 of rod member 12 may comprisetwo thicknesses of second looped end 16 of rod member 12 where the twothicknesses that comprise the straight end 14 are fused or bondedtogether or co-extruded such that the straight and looped ends 14, 16 ofrod member 12 are continuous with one another. In the exemplaryembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the looped end 16 of rod member 12 isgreater or longer in length than straight end 14 of rod member 12.However, depending on the type of instrument that cleaning device 10 ofthe present invention is designed to clean, looped end 16 of rod member12 may be equal in length to, or shorter in length than, straight end 14of rod member 12.

In a further aspect of the invention, swab member 18 may be attached tosecond looped end 16 of rod member 12 by having a portion of secondlooped end 16 of rod member 12 traverse through a portion of first end20 of swab member 18 such that swab member 18 is capable of beingrotated about and through second looped end 16 of rod member 12. Inaddition, such attachment would allow swab member 18 to slide along thelength of second looped end 16 of rod member 12. Further, in oneexemplary embodiment, swab member 18 may be shorter in length thansecond looped end 16 of rod member 12 and in another exemplaryembodiment swab member 18 may be longer in length than second looped end16 of rod member 12. In still a further embodiment, swab member 18 maybe equal in length to second looped end 16 of rod member 12.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of yet another exemplary embodiment of thecleaning device 30 of the present invention. Cleaning device 30 includesa rod member 32 having a first end 34 and a second end 36 where secondend 36 comprises a looped end. Cleaning device 30 also includes a swabmember 38 having a first end 40 and a second end 42 where first end 40is attached to the second looped end 36 of rod member 32 and second end42 comprises a tail 44 which can be like the tail of a kite where thetail can be of any length. Swab member 38 may comprise one or morematerials that may comprise one or more fibers that can be braided ortwisted with the tail end 44 of the swab member 38 comprising theunbraided and/or untwisted ends of the material(s) and/or fiber(s) thatcomprise the swab member 38. In addition, the swab member 38 maycomprise a foam material and/or a microfiber material. It should beunderstood by those skilled in the art that swab member 38 (and 18 inFIG. 1) along with tail 44 (and 24 in FIG. 1) may together be referredto as a kite like tail with reference to the rod member component of thecleaning device of the present invention.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the length of the loopedend 36 of rod member 32 appears to be nearly equal to the length of thestraight end 34 of rod member 32 when the length of looped end 36 isconsidered to be its length when secured in a looped configuration (i.e.its length is half of what it would be if the looped end 36 were openedup such that it was no longer in a looped configuration). In addition,swab member 38 is longer in length than looped end 36 of rod member 32when the length of looped end 36 is considered to be its length whensecured in a looped configuration (i.e. its length is half of what itwould be if the looped end 36 were opened up such that it was no longerin a looped configuration). The lengths of the swab member 38, thesecond looped end 36 of rod member 32, and the first straight end 34 ofrod member 32 in the exemplary embodiment of cleaning device 30 shown inFIG. 5 can also be seen in FIG. 6 which is a side elevational view ofthe exemplary embodiment of cleaning device 30 shown in FIG. 5. Thepolymer comprising rod member 32 may be an organic polymer thermoplasticwhich, in one exemplary embodiment, may be a polyether ether ketone. Therod member is preferably a thin, flexible, threadlike member.

FIG. 7 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodimentof the cleaning device shown in FIG. 5 taken along line 7-7 and FIG. 8is a magnified cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodiment of thecleaning device shown in FIG. 5 taken along line 8-8. As shown in FIGS.7 and 8, the diameter of looped end 36 of rod member 32 is smaller thanthe diameter of straight end 34 of rod member 32. Likewise, the outercircumference of looped end 36 of rod member 32 is smaller than theouter circumference of straight end 34 of rod member 32. Further asshown in FIGS. 7 and 8, straight end 34 of rod member 32 may comprisetwo thicknesses of second looped end 36 of rod member 32 where the twothicknesses that comprise the straight end 34 are fused or bondedtogether or co-extruded such that the straight and looped ends 34, 36 ofrod member 32 are continuous with one another. As previously describedabove with reference to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,the looped end 36 of rod member 32 is approximately the same in lengthas straight end 34 of rod member 32. However, depending on the type ofinstrument that cleaning device 30 of the present invention is designedto clean, looped end 36 of rod member 32 may be longer or shorter inlength than straight end 34 of rod member 32.

Further, with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6, swab member 38 may be attachedto second looped end 36 of rod member 32 by having a portion of secondlooped end 36 of rod member 32 traverse through a portion of first end40 of swab member 38 such that swab member 38 is capable of beingrotated about and through second looped end 36 of rod member 32. Inaddition, such attachment would allow swab member 38 to slide along thelength of second looped end 36 of rod member 32. In the exemplaryembodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, swab member 38 is longer in lengththan second looped end 36 of rod member 32 when the length of secondlooped end 36 is considered to be its length in the secured loopconfiguration shown. However, in still other embodiments, swab member 38may be equal to, or shorter in length than, second looped member 36 ofrod member 32.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5 includes a swab member 38 thatcomprises materials and/or fibers that are twisted in relation to oneanother to form the swab member while the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 1 includes a swab member 18 that comprises materials and/or fibersthat are braided in relation to one another to form the swab member. Itshould also be understood by those skilled in the art that the swabmember may comprise one or more materials and/or one or more fibers thatare secured to one another in other ways or by other means besidestwisting or braiding such as but not limited to, for example, bondingwith heat and/or pressure and/or bonding with chemicals or laminates.However, depending on the type of instrument that the cleaning device 10of the present invention is designed to clean, it may not be beneficialto use any additional bonding or securing means other than twisting orbraiding of the materials and/or fibers that comprise the swab member asit could result in the introduction of potential contaminants inaddition to the ones that the cleaning device 10 is trying to remove.This may be particularly relevant with respect to cleaning medicalinstruments and/or other instruments that need to be sterilized beforeuse.

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the inventionherein shows various exemplary embodiments and the best modes, known tothe inventor at this time, of the invention. These exemplary embodimentsand modes are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled inthe art to practice the invention and are not intended to limit thescope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way.Rather, the following disclosure is intended to teach both theimplementation of the exemplary embodiments and modes and any equivalentmodes or embodiments that are known or obvious to those reasonablyskilled in the art. Additionally, all included examples are non-limitingillustrations of the exemplary embodiments and modes, which similarlyavail themselves to any equivalent modes or embodiments that are knownor obvious to those reasonably skilled in the art.

Other combinations and/or modifications of structures, arrangements,applications, proportions, elements, materials, or components used inthe practice of the instant invention, in addition to those notspecifically recited, can be varied or otherwise particularly adapted tospecific environments, manufacturing specifications, design parameters,or other operating requirements without departing from the scope of theinstant invention and are intended to be included in this disclosure.

Unless specifically noted, it is the Applicant's intent that the wordsand phrases in the specification and the claims be given the commonlyaccepted generic meaning or an ordinary and accustomed meaning used bythose of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. In the instance wherethese meanings differ, the words and phrases in the specification andthe claims should be given the broadest possible, generic meaning. Ifany other special meaning is intended for any word or phrase, thespecification will clearly state and define the special meaning.

1. A cleaning device comprising: a swab member having a plurality ofmaterial members connected to one another; and a flexible rod memberconnected to the swab member wherein the flexible rod member traversesthrough the plurality of material members.
 2. The cleaning device ofclaim 1 wherein the flexible rod member comprises a polymer.
 3. Thecleaning device of claim 2 wherein the polymer comprises an organicpolymer thermoplastic.
 4. The cleaning device of claim 3 wherein theorganic polymer thermoplastic comprises polyether ether ketone.
 5. Thecleaning device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of material memberscomprises at least one of a foam material member and a microfibermaterial member.
 6. The cleaning device of claim 1 wherein the flexiblerod member as a first end and a second end wherein the first endcomprises a straight end and the second end comprises a looped end. 7.The cleaning device of claim 6 wherein the flexible rod member comprisesa polymer.
 8. The cleaning device of claim 6 wherein the looped end hasa smaller diameter than the straight end.
 9. The cleaning device ofclaim 6 wherein the looped end is longer in length than the straightend.
 10. The cleaning device of claim 9 wherein the swab member isshorter in length than the looped end.
 11. The cleaning device of claim6 wherein the looped end is equal in length to the straight end or lessin length than the straight end.
 12. The cleaning device of claim 11wherein the swab member is longer in length than the looped end.
 13. Thecleaning device of claim 1 wherein the swab member comprises a first endand a second wherein the first end is connected to the flexible rodmember and the second end has a tail comprising unconnected ends of theplurality of material members.
 14. The cleaning device of claim 13wherein the plurality of material members connected to one anothercomprise a plurality of material members that are braided in relation toone another.
 15. The cleaning device of claim 13 wherein the pluralityof members connected to one another comprise a plurality of materialmembers that are twisted in relation to one another.
 16. A cleaningdevice comprising: a swab member having a plurality of material membersconnected to one another; and a flexible rod member having a firststraight end and a second looped end wherein the second looped endtraverses through the plurality of material members.
 17. The cleaningdevice of claim 16 wherein the flexible rod member comprises a polymer.18. The cleaning device of claim 16 wherein the first straight end ofthe flexible rod member has a larger diameter than the second looped endof the flexible rod member.
 19. The cleaning device of claim 18 whereinthe outer circumference of the first straight end is larger than theouter circumference of the second looped end.
 20. The cleaning device ofclaim 17 wherein the first straight end comprises two thicknesses of thesecond looped end wherein the two thicknesses that comprise the straightend are fused together or co-extruded.
 21. The cleaning device of claim17 wherein the plurality of material members comprise at least one of afoam material member and a microfiber material member.
 22. The cleaningdevice of claim 17 wherein the swab member is attached to the secondlooped end of the flexible rod member by having a portion of the secondlooped end of the flexible rod member traverse through the plurality ofmaterial members such that the plurality of material members are capableof being rotated about and through the second looped end of the flexiblerod member.